Tag Archives: children’s novels

Flunking NaNoWriMo, Finding a Writing Rhythm

Posted on December 9, 2014 by Jennifer Jensen

I admit it:  I flunked NaNo this year. I had great plans of using the month to crank out a down-and-dirty rough draft of Shimmer #2.  What I discovered was that a good story (not just a large word count), necessary historical research and a 30-day deadline do not make a good combination! At about the 10,000 word mark, I discovered a resource that filled in a lot of gaps in my knowledge about life in the canal construction camps of the 1830s.  Great info, but it also meant stopping to read, re-imagine and re-plot before I could move forward again.  And when local book signings and a marketing push on Mother-Daughter Book Reviews took over my brain, and NaNoWriMo went completely kaput. Sigh. On the other hand, when I was working on those 10,000 words, I discovered a great rhythm for my writing time! As many of you know, … Continue reading →

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Shimmer of Time: Cover Reveal

Posted on July 22, 2014 by Jennifer Jensen

I have two new shiny things to distract you today!  Well, make that one shiny and one a bit dingy.  And if you get this in your email, you’ll have to click the title – the pictures only show up on the blog. The best new shiny is the official cover reveal for Through the Shimmer of Time.  I’m thrilled with it, and with my cover designer, Melinda VanLone, of Book Cover Corner. The cover design comes with its own story.  Because I wanted my cover characters to be the right age, and because of the 1830s period (the Civil War era would have been much easier), stock photography sites didn’t have anything we could use.  So guess who turned photographer? I found two awesome young people who were very willing to be part of my book journey, set my trustworthy old Canon on “sport” so the shutter speed was … Continue reading →

Posted in Children's/YA, WIP, WRITING | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment